Book
Macroéconomie : fondements, microfondements et politiques
Éditions Hermann, Paris — with François Kabuya Kalala
A reference textbook that moves beyond IS-LM, bringing modern DSGE models to the realities of developing economies.
2018
Economist · Macroeconomist · Professor
Jean-Paul K.Tsasa
From Kinshasa to Montreal and back: a life devoted to the rigor of numbers, the training of minds, and the economic future of the Congo.
- PhD Economics · UQAM
- Department Head · UPC
- Founder · LAREQ
- Director · CIREM
MacroeconomicsDSGE ModelsLabor MarketsMathematical EconomicsPolitical Economy of DevelopmentEconometricsMacroeconomicsDSGE ModelsLabor MarketsMathematical EconomicsPolitical Economy of DevelopmentEconometrics
Journey
The Mathematical Economist
Trained in mathematical economics at the Protestant University in Congo, Jean-Paul K. Tsasa earned his PhD in Economics at UQAM in 2022 under the supervision of Pavel Ševčík. His solo-authored article in the Journal of Mathematical Economics won the ESG-UQAM Best Paper Award.
But his story is not just a list of publications. In 2012 he founded LAREQ to raise Congolese economic research to international standards. In 2025, he returned to lead the Department of Economics at UPC — the university that trained him.
His conviction: mathematical rigor is not a rich country's luxury. It is the tool the Congo needs to understand its past, steer its present, and build its future.
0
LAREQ founded
0
Universities taught at
0+
Research works
0
ESG-UQAM Best Paper
His Law
Nothing withstands discipline and relentless work. Like gravity, it is a law.
Research
Models That Speak to the Real World
Labor market frictions, medium-term cycles, Congolese institutions: research where the most demanding theory meets the questions that matter.
02 Labor Market Volatility in a Fully Specified RBC Search Model: An Analytical Investigation
Journal of Mathematical Economics, vol. 103
An analytical, no-numerical-shortcut resolution of labor market volatility in an RBC model with search frictions.
Award — 2022 Best Paper ESG-UQAM AwardView ↗2022
03 Macroeconomic Stabilization and the Monetary-Fiscal Policy Mix
The Palgrave Handbook on Public Debt and Policy Mix, ch. 18 (ed. Chicot Eboué)
How the monetary-fiscal policy mix serves macroeconomic stabilization.
2026
04 Guerres civiles, dépenses militaires et performances économiques
L'Actualité économique, vol. 94, no. 3, pp. 309–339
What the numbers reveal about the economic cost of conflict — a thread running through his research since his undergraduate thesis.
2018
05 The Colonial State as Institutional Architect: Evidence from the Belgian Congo
Working paper
The colonial state as institutional architect: what the Belgian Congo teaches us about today's institutions.
2026
06 The Most Serious Human Rights Violations in the DRC, 1993–2003: An Accounting of the Human Cost
Working paper — with B. Mayasi and I. Musimwa
A rigorous accounting of the human cost of a decade of grave violations in the DRC.
2025
07 Sécurité et santé au travail en RDC : état des lieux, enjeux et perspectives
Working paper — with Dr Lucette Matsi
Taking stock of occupational safety and health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2026
08 Back to When Debreu Met N. Bourbaki: A Tractable Reconstruction of Theory of Value's Chapter One Proofs
Working paper
Back to the foundations: a tractable reconstruction of the chapter-one proofs of Debreu's Theory of Value.
2026
09 Medium-term Business Cycles and Labor Market Search
Job market paper — with Pavel Ševčík
Labor market frictions meet the determinants of growth: explaining medium-term dynamics.
2022
10 The Real Effects of Uncertainty Shocks: New Evidence from Linear and Nonlinear SVAR Models
Working paper — with Josue Diwambuena
The real effects of uncertainty shocks in a developing country, via linear and nonlinear SVAR models.
2021
11 The Augmented Fundamental Surplus
In progress — with P. Ševčík and I. Musimwa
The business cycle mechanics of the fundamental surplus in large-scale New Keynesian DSGE models with search frictions.
2024
12 Labor Market Dynamics and R&D-Based Growth
In progress — with Pavel Ševčík
What R&D-based growth implies for labor market dynamics.
2022
13 Economic Growth Episodes and Institutional Clusters in Developing Countries
In progress — with J.-C. Maswana and B. Onyumbe · presented at AEA 2022
42 African countries, 15 years of data: re-evaluating the link between growth episodes and institutional clusters.
2022
Teaching
Passing On the Standard
From first-year mathematics to doctoral DSGE seminars, across two continents: teaching means repeating the standard until it becomes a habit.
01Université Protestante au Congo
Kinshasa, DRC · Professor — Head of the Department of Economics
·Mathematics for EconomistsBachelor years 1 & 22025–2026
·EconometricsBachelor year 32025–2026
·Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) ModelingMaster 12025–2026
·Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) ModelingMaster 22025–2026
02Université du Québec à Montréal
Montreal, Canada · Lecturer
ECO8402Macroeconomic Environment for BusinessGraduate2024
ECO2400Macroeconomic AnalysisUndergraduate2017–2019
ECO9015 · ECO9011Dynamic Methods & Advanced Macroeconomics (labs)PhD2016–2017
03Université de Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke, Canada · Lecturer
ECN701Advanced Macroeconomics IMaster / PhD2022–2023
— One theorem understood is worth ten recited.
Impact & Leadership
Building Institutions, Training a Generation
Professor Tsasa's reputation rests not only on his papers, but on the institutions he has built and the economists he has trained.
Founder · 2012
LAREQ
The Laboratory of Analysis-Research in Quantitative Economics brings together researchers and students from UNIKIN, UPC and UCC around one demand: quantitative excellence. The Makroeconomica journal devoted to DSGE models for developing countries, one-pagers, and a Medal of Excellence awarded every year since 2014.
3 universities · Makroeconomica journal · Medal of Excellence
Director
CIREM
The Interuniversity Center for Research in Mathematical Economics carries one ambition: rigorous economic analysis in the service of Congolese public policy.
Research in the service of public policy
Department Head · 2025
Department of Economics, UPC
Leading the department that trained him, he brings mathematics, econometrics and DSGE modeling into dialogue with Congolese realities — and trains the generation that will follow.
Appointed by rectoral decision, September 2025
Policy & Public Debate
Alongside Decision-Makers
From the Ministry of Finance to the Prime Minister's Office (2011–2013), from Zoom Eco analyses to the economic assessment of 60 years of independence: a respected voice in Congo's economic debate.
Ministry of Finance · Prime Minister's Office · economic media
Path
A Disciplined Trajectory
- 20092009
Degree in Mathematical Economics, UPC
Thesis "The DR Congo at war: what do the numbers reveal?" — already, data in service of Congo's biggest questions.
- 20112011
Advising Policymakers
Macroeconomic modeling specialist for the DRC Ministry of Finance, then the Prime Minister's Office (2011–2013).
- 20122012
Founding of LAREQ
He founds the Laboratory of Analysis-Research in Quantitative Economics to bring a vision of excellence to Congolese universities: the Makroeconomica journal, one-pagers, mentorship and the Medal of Excellence.
- 20182018
The Hermann Textbook & L'Actualité économique
Publishes the "Macroéconomie" textbook with Hermann (Paris) alongside François Kabuya Kalala, and an article in L'Actualité économique on civil wars and economic performance.
- 20222022
PhD at UQAM & Journal of Mathematical Economics
PhD in Economics (supervised by Pavel Ševčík), a solo-authored article in the Journal of Mathematical Economics, and the ESG-UQAM Best Paper Award.
- 20252025
Department Head at UPC & CIREM
Appointed Head of the Department of Economics at UPC and Director of CIREM — returning home to train the next generation.
- 20262026
Palgrave Handbook & New Frontiers
A chapter in the Palgrave Handbook on Public Debt and Policy Mix and five new working papers, from the Belgian Congo to Debreu.
Contact
Write to the Professor
Students, researchers, institutions: the door is open to those who share the standard.
Directly
Tsasa.Jean-Paul@courrier.uqam.caUniversity
Department of Economics, Protestant University in Congo, Kinshasa, DRC
The Letter
Receive the Professor's Analyses
One-pagers, new working papers, perspectives on the Congolese economy: get upcoming publications straight to your inbox.